


If Everything Goes According To Plan

by EscapeTheRace



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-30 17:30:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12113688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapeTheRace/pseuds/EscapeTheRace
Summary: Ali thinks she has found the perfect no-strings-attached rebound when she meets Ashlyn at camp, but life is rarely that perfect.Slooooooow BurnPreviously "Girl Meets Girl"





	1. New Faces

**Author's Note:**

> There is no logical timeline to this lol, don't try to make sense of it, just go with it. Also, if you feel like you've read this before, it's probably because you have. I deleted my old work, edited it a lot, and then uploaded it again. Annoying, i know.

Ali smiled when she saw a small group of her teammates huddled near baggage claim. It was January and everyone who got a call up was arriving in Atlanta for camp. After WPS folded a little under a year ago, Ali was even more thankful for camp. It gave her a chance to play with other people on her level, not just men’s clubs and college teams. There had been talk of a new league starting up, she had even heard of a couple teams in negotiations with the USSF, but until they were signing contracts, Ali knew better then to count on that.

“ALIIIIIIIII!” Rapinoe yelled when she saw the brunette. Ali smiled and braced herself for the smaller woman to jump on her.

“Long time no see! You ready? Did you see the room assignments?” the blonde asked.

“Yeah! Looks like we will have plenty of time to catch up, Roomie.”

“Hell yeah! Let’s grab our bags and head to the bus.”

 ****

On the bus, Ali sat alone—not because she wasn’t excited to see anyone, but because she was tired from the flight and preferred to sit back and take it all in. Just as soon as she turned to look at her phone, Kelley’s head popped up from the seat behind her.

“Hey!” Kelley poked Ali and made her jump.

“Woah! Uh, hi Kelley!”

Kelley jumped over the seat and plopped down next to Ali. She leaned in close and whispered, “So did you hear about Hope?”

Ali shook her head. “No. What about her?”

“Well she didn’t get a call up.”

Ali raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?!”

“Yep.”

“So who’s in line next then? Naeher?”

Kelley shook her head, “Naeher is just coming back from shoulder surgery. I heard we got a couple of newbies they are going to play around with. I guess they are getting in on the flight tonight because I haven’t seen any of them yet.”

Ali thought to herself for a minute. She wasn’t exactly shocked that Hope didn’t get a call up—god knows she had a difficult personality—but still, it was Hope—Hope was ALWAYS there. She couldn’t even remember the last time another keeper had started. Ali didn’t like all this change. There was still no league for them to play in, and switching a solid line up sounded like an adjustment Ali wasn't looking forward to. 

****

Ashlyn took a deep breath, dropped her backpack between her feet, and pulled her phone out while she waited for her baggage. It seemed later then 6pm, and even though she hadn’t stepped outside yet, she could feel the cold air whoosh by every time the sliding doors opened and closed. This wasn’t her first time getting a call up, she had been on the youth teams and was sometimes the third or fourth choice when something happened to one of the starting keepers. This time was no different. She knew Hope was out, so she assumed the line up would be Naeher, Barnie, and then her. Nothing to be worried about—lots of practice time, and probably no play time.

Right then she heard someone come up next to her and she turned to see Christie Rampone.

“Hey!” The older woman said, “You here for camp? Ashlyn, right?”

Ashlyn smiled and nodded, “Yep that’s me!”

“Great, I know I’ve seen you a couple of times before at camp but its been awhile.”

“Yeah, I’m normally like the fourth-in-line for goalkeeper, but I heard Hope was out so I guess I got bumped up to number three.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll do great! You got your room assignment yet?”

“Yeah, got the email last night. Looks like I’m with Kelley O’Hara.”

“You’ll like her. She’s fun—tons of energy.”

The two women continued to make small talk for a minute before grabbing their bags off of the carousel and making their way to the bus.

****

Ali and Pinoe found their room and unpacked their stuff before heading down for dinner. The first team meeting was at 8pm. Since everyone was still trickling in, it was casual. Ali changed into sweatpants and threw her hair into a bun. 

“So who’s your roomie?” Ali heard Pinoe ask Kelley over dinner.

“Ummmm some goal keeper? A new one I think?”

“Does she have a name or is she just ‘some goal keeper’?”

“I don’t know! Ok here I’ll look it up, hold on. You two are rooming together, right?” she pointed at Ali and Pinoe who were sitting next to each other.

Ali nodded. “Yep.”

“Ok here it is—Ashlyn Harris? I’ve heard the name, no clue who she is though.”

“Oh damn, Ashlyn got a call up? Kinda surprised she didn’t tell me. I guess she was just busy with the holidays and stuff,” Pinoe said.

“You know her?” Kelley asked.

“Yep. She played at UNC and on the Flash. I think you’ll like her. She is like a really cool surfer chick from Florida. Also she’s pretty friggin hot.”

Kelley smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

Pinoe nodded, “Yeah. But probably not your type. First off she knows she’s hot if you know what I mean. Secondly, you always go for those girly sorority girls, which Ashlyn is definitely not.”

“What’s wrong with sorority girls?!” Kelley asked.

“Yeah, I was in a sorority” Ali added.

“Nothing is wrong with that, I just mean Ashlyn is like—she’s like an artsy, surfer, hot-and-I-know-it tomboy. She can sorta be a fuck boy, but she’s really cool.”

“Oh,” Kelley sounded slightly disappointed. “Well I guess we should get going to the conference room, meeting should be starting soon.”

****

Ashlyn followed Christie and a couple other players that got in late into the lobby. While they were checking in and getting their keys, she heard some people say Christie’s name from across the room. She recognized some of their faces, but before she had a chance to really say hi to anyone, Pinoe came up and jumped on her back.

Ashlyn smiled—it’s always nice to know some people at camp. “Hey Pinoe!” Ashlyn said as she wrapped her arms around Megan’s legs.

“You excited, Sexy? I’m going to kill you in practice.”

“Yeah, okay,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes and turned around to see a girl with dark hair and the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. The blonde stared at her with a dopey grin for half a second before letting Pinoe slide off her back. She took a step towards the woman in front of her as all the other teammates talked among themselves and shamelessly let her eyes rake over the other woman’s body.

“Hi, I’m Ashlyn,” she said with a smirk as she casually extended her right hand. 

Ali shook the other woman’s hand and smiled. “Oh yeah Pinoe already told me all about you. Surfer chick from Florida, right? I’m Ali.” Ali was shocked at the words that had just come out of her mouth—why the hell wouldn’t she just introduce herself like a normal person?! Maybe it was hearing Pinoe talk about her and then seeing Ashlyn flash a cocky grin that irritated Ali enough to be way bolder then normal. Whatever it was, Ali saw a hint of confusion pass through the other woman’s eyes, and she couldn’t decide if she felt guilty or proud about that.

“Ok we gotta go, you guys can go to your rooms after, Jill wants to have a quick meeting so everyone can get to know each other,” Kelley said.

****

“Surfer chick?” Ashlyn thought to herself, “What the hell was that about?” She was frustrated that the brunette had called her some “surfer chick” as if it was a bad thing. And what had Pinoe told her? Clearly it was nothing good by the way Ali reacted to meeting her. Ashlyn was even more frustrated when somehow she got seated next to the brunette during the meeting. It started out fine, the coaches spoke for about 15 minutes, but then they were told to get to know the person next to them before getting an early night.

Ali sighed at the thought of having to talk to the blonde again; she could tell what Pinoe meant when she said Ashlyn was hot and knew it. Checking out your teammate that you just met? Real professional, Ali thought. She knew she had to learn to get along with the blonde, so she put on a smile and turned to the other woman.

“So, keeper, right?” Ali asked. 

Ashlyn nodded and if Ali didn’t know better, she would say the girl was nervous by the way she refused to make eye contact.

“Yeah. What about you?” Ashlyn asked.

“Right back. Looks like I’ll have to put up with you a lot,” Ali smiled and rolled her eyes, but Ashlyn was too busy staring at the ground to notice that she was just joking.  
Ashlyn winced slightly at the comment before she felt Ali poke her leg and finally looked up to see the defender smiling at her.

“Don’t look so scared. I don’t bite—normally. See you tomorrow?” Ali said.

“Yeah, sounds good. Have a good night.”

****

Ali sat in her bed in yoga pants with wet hair when Pinoe walked out of the bathroom after showering.

“What’s up, Roomie?” the blonde said.

“Not much,” she sighed. “So you think these new goal keepers are any good?”

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that, you know, since they were selected for the NATIONAL team, that yeah, they’re the best in the nation. Why?”

“Just curious.”

“I saw you talking to Ashlyn. She’s cute right?”

Ali shrugged.

“I mean, if that’s your type…is it your type?” Pinoe asked.

“What? I don’t really have a type. I don’t date women much,” Ali answered casually.

Pinoe’s mouth fell open in shock. “So you DO like women?”

“Yeah sometimes, why?”

“I mean the entire team has wondered about you for like, ever.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. We only ever heard you talk about ex-boyfriends, but Abby SWORE that one time when you and her and Kelley were out for coffee, some girl you knew in college popped up, and that it was superrrr obvious you guys had slept together.”

Ali let a half-smile escape and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, my college girlfriend, Heather. I never told Abby she was my ex, though. I guess it was pretty obvious.”

“Damn it. I told Abby she was full of shit.”

“Sorry.”

“So back to Ashlyn….”

“She has some killer biceps. I mean they are really incredible, but she also seems cocky. I’m pretty sure she was guessing my cup size within 10 seconds of her meeting me.”

Pinoe laughed. “Yeah for sure she can come across that way. Watch out, Kriegs! You’re going to fall for those sexy biceps.”

Ali rolled her eyes and turned the light off. “Night, Megan.”

****

“Jesus Christ it’s fucking cold!” Ashlyn thought as she started bouncing up and down to try to keep warm. It was too early. Goal keepers always had to get to the field before everyone else, and she kept wondering where the other goal keepers were. When the trainer walked out followed by just Jane Campbell, Ashlyn felt like maybe she had missed a memo. The goalkeeper coach walked over and introduced them. Ashlyn smiled and asked where the third goalkeeper was.

“Naeher got a call up, but she had to get cleared by medical so she should be here later tomorrow.”

Ashlyn nodded and started pulling her gloves on. She had assumed Naeher had already been cleared and would start, Barnie would be the backup, and Ashlyn would be lucky if she dressed. But now Barnie had been replaced by a very young looking Campbell and Naeher wasn’t even cleared yet. This camp was turning out to be a lot different than Ashlyn thought.

“Start warming up, ladies. Ashlyn—you’re up first.”

****

The first morning at camp always meant the same thing—fitness testing. At least if you weren’t a goal keeper. The weather was crisp and refreshing, and even though Ali’s lungs were burning and her whole body felt like it was on fire, breathing in the cold air felt so good. She hadn’t thought about Ashlyn at all since she woke up; she was too busy focusing on the fitness test and besides, this wasn’t the first time she had ever thought one of her teammates was attractive. She knew how to turn it off when needed.

When the fitness test was finally over, Ali grabbed a water bottle and collapsed on the grass next to HAO. She was still trying to catch her breath when she saw the goalkeepers walking over. Ali thought it was weird that there were only two of them and she couldn’t help but notice the anxious look on Ashlyn’s face. She wondered why the blonde had that look, but before she could give it much thought, she heard Syd whistle to the keeper and Ali watched as the look on Ashlyn’s face went from overwhelmed to calm and collected in a heartbeat. 

Ali went back to drinking her recovery drink and wiping the sweat off of her face as she listened to Ashlyn and Syd laugh together over something.

“I saw you went surfing on Instagram! How was that? That girl was hot!” Syd said.

Ashlyn grinned, “Oh my god it was fucking amazing! Expensive as hell but so much fun!”

“Yeah, yeah, the surfing looked fun, but what about that girl?” Syd asked. Ashlyn dipped her head and stole a glance at Ali, who was sitting on the grass looking totally oblivious to the conversation. Ashlyn let out the breath that she didn’t know why she had been holding.

“Yeah, uh, she was good too. But you know, she was just for fun. Nothing serious.”

“Yeah I know—you couldn’t do serious if you tried!”

Ashlyn’s head snapped up and she was going to say something to Sydney about how that wasn’t true, but right then Jill told everyone to listen up. She let out a defeated sigh and looked at Ali, relieved when she saw the brunette wasn’t paying attention. 

Ali had heard the conversation, even if Ashlyn didn’t think she had. It didn’t exactly surprise her after what Pinoe had told her. She wasn’t in the least disappointed, in fact she was happy about it. Ashlyn clearly was the type girl who wanted no strings attached, and at this point, that’s what Ali wanted too.

****

After ice baths and lunch, Ashlyn snuck out early to get some time to herself before scrimmaging. She thought it would be a good idea to sit on a bench right outside of the hotel lobby…until she remembered it was freezing out. So far camp had been slightly overwhelming and it was only day one. When she saw Ali peak her head out the hotel doors, she inwardly groaned. The last thing she wanted was for Ali to make some smart remark and make her feel like a total idiot.

“Geez you look like you’re freezing! You do know it’s only like 56 degrees out, right?” Ali said as she sat down next to the keeper. Ashlyn rolled her eyes and was already frustrated.

“Yeah. I know. Ha Ha so funny. I’m a pansy surfer chick. I get it.”

Ali raised her eyebrows, surprised the other woman seemed to be so irritated when she was trying to just start conversation.

“Okayyyy well I was coming out here to see if you were doing okay but never mind,” she got up to leave but stopped when she heard Ashlyn.

“Fuck—wait. I’m sorry. I just really don’t do well in the cold,” she said as she stared down at her feet. Ali bit her tongue to avoid saying “yeah I noticed”.

“I didn’t mean to roll my eyes at you. You were just making a joke,” Ashlyn finished.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay with the whole Hope being gone thing and who the heck is the other keeper? She doesn’t even look old enough to drive.”

Ashlyn chuckled. “Yeah that’s Jane Campbell. I don’t know how old she is but she seems super young. And honestly I thought I’d be like third in the line up, but Campbell is, well, an infant, and Naeher isn’t even cleared yet. I guess I should have read the email more carefully or texted Pinoe to fill me in but I just wasn’t thinking.

“Ahh yes—your surfing trip had you a bit preoccupied I heard,” Ali was obviously teasing, but Ashlyn couldn’t help but get a little upset that the defender had overheard that conversation. Ashlyn wasn’t a player and she definitely didn’t want Ali thinking she was. The brunette already gave her a hard time just because of stuff other people had said. She hated that Ali already seemed to have formed an opinion on her; although it didn’t matter since Ali didn’t seem the least bit interested to the keeper.

“You heard that?” Ashlyn cringed.

Ali rolled her eyes, “You guys were talking about it loud enough.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, Harris. I’m just teasing you. You think I care if you like to have fun?”

“Yeah but, seriously that’s not true. I don’t want you to think that about me.”

“Think what about you?” Ali knew what Ashlyn was getting at, but she wanted to watch her squirm a bit more. Ashlyn sighed and ran her hands through her hair.  
“I don’t want you to think that I’m, like, you know...a slut.” Ashlyn winced as she said it, and when Ali laughed she wanted to melt into the bench and disappear.  
“I don’t care if you sleep around. Listen I came out here because when you walked over after fitness testing, you looked like you wanted to puke. I wanted to make sure you’re okay, not listen to you apologize for your ‘sleeping habits’.”

Ashlyn was frustrated that Ali seemed to skip over her explanation without even the least bit of interest. The blonde wasn’t used to girls brushing her off like that, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.

“You noticed that?” Ashlyn asked as she stole a glance at the other women.

“That look of being totally overwhelmed? Oh yeah, I caught that. Don’t worry—you covered for it pretty well. I don’t think anyone else saw.” Ali offered a little smile to the blonde and Ashlyn smiled back before staring at the ground again.

“Thanks. Yeah uh, like I said, I didn’t realize the normal goal keepers wouldn’t be here. I mean, don’t get me wrong, starting for the national team is what I’ve wanted for years, but uh, I just wasn’t exactly in the mindset for that when I came in to this camp so I’m a bit nervous.”

The shorter woman softly elbowed Ashlyn to get her to make eye contact. 

“I totally get that—everyone here gets that. We’ve all had that exact same feeling at some point. The only difference is not everyone tries to act like a badass who isn’t phased by it, you know?”

Ashlyn nodded and wanted to say something, but she was still trying to figure out how to get Ali to believe that she wasn’t a player like everyone said. When she felt Ali’s hand on her thigh, she froze.

“I’m going to go get ready for scrimmage. But if you ever need something, I’m staying in room 208 with Pinoe.”

With that, she got up and walked away. Leaving Ashlyn to panic about all the things Pinoe could tell Ali about her.


	2. Scheming

The next couple of days went by in a blur. All the women were exhausted by the time dinner rolled around and other then the occasional “hey” both Ashlyn and Ali kept to themselves. But that night, Ali couldn’t stop thinking about how Ashlyn’s arms looked when she ripped her shirt off before plunging into an ice bath. Megan was laying on the other bed watching Modern Family re-runs when Ali put down her magazine, stared at the ceiling, and unceremoniously said, “I think I’m going to hook up with Ashlyn if I get the chance.”

“You WHAT?!” Megan turned her head to look at her, and was shocked when the brunette wasn’t phased.

“I said I think I’m gonna—”

“I heard you. What the hell are you even talking about? Ashlyn? You like her?! You know that would be an awful idea at camp right? Not to mention—Jesus Christ I have so much to say about this. Ok first off, since when do you like Ashlyn?”

Ali turned on her side to face Megan and said, “I told you earlier—she’s got some killer arms,” as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah but—you—you’re Ali! You don’t hook up with random girls! You’re like all girly.”

Ali cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow, “So just because I’m super girly and don’t act like a cocky frat boy who brags about every girl they bang, I can’t hook up? How progressive of you.”

Pinoe rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Well ok yeah it sort of is, but mainly just I’ve never heard you talk about hooking up with someone. Like ever.”

“That’s because I don’t see why it’s anyone’s business who I hook up with. I don’t need to tell the whole world. The only reason I’m even telling you is because you seem to know Ashlyn pretty well so I figured I’d tell you in case there’s anything I should know before hand.”

Pinoe got up and plopped herself down on Ali’s bed. “Um YEAH. Ok. So, you just decide you’re going to hook up with her on a Thursday and what—you plan to have it done by like Monday?!”

“I didn’t say that,” Ali said with a shrug.

“Well that’s how it sounded! Anyways, lets seriously talk about this.”

“Ok. Go.”

“Me? No. I mean YOU have to talk about it.”

“What is there to talk about? She’s cute. And she comes across as so cocky but it’s clearly just an act. It’s actually a ton of fun to watch her just totally fall apart when it doesn’t work.”

Pinoe grabbed her chest like she was having a heart attack. “Jesus, Ali! You’re killing me. This whole time I thought you were some cute, innocent, mostly straight, wants 2.5 kids and a husband who works in finance type of gal, and you shattered that in like 10 words!”

Ali gave a half smile and looked down at her magazine, “I’d say sorry but I’m not. So seriously, anything I should know before I pursue it?”

“Uh, well, I guess normally I would say don’t expect her to give you any sort of relationship, girlfriend type stuff, but I feel like that warning would probably be more useful if I said it to Ashlyn, and I can’t believe I’m saying that.”

“So good to go? You swear you won’t say anything, right? I hate when people know about this type of stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re ‘good to go’. I won’t say anything—one condition—you have to keep me updated. Because honestly I would have never guessed any of this in my wildest dreams and it sounds way more entertaining then watching Modern Family reruns.”

“Deal. Okay get off my bed now. I’m going to sleep.”

****

The next morning, Ali got up early and went down to the conference room where they had all their meals. She knew the goalkeepers didn’t normally eat breakfast this early, but she could also tell that Ashlyn hadn’t been sleeping well so she figured with any luck, she would get some one on one time with her.

When Ali walked through the doors and saw the blonde sitting alone with a plate of eggs in front of her, she grinned. Mostly because she was proud that her prediction was correct, but it coincided perfectly with Ashlyn looking up to see who walked in.

“Hey, girly. Couldn’t sleep?” Ali asked as she watched Ashlyn cringe at the nickname.

“Um, girly? No one has called me that since, like, ever,” the blonde replied. Ali just shrugged and started filling up her plate. It was really too easy to get the goalkeeper worked up, but damn she was so cute when she was flustered.

“Oh I’m sorry, what do all those other girls call you? Stud? That’s cute.”

Ashlyn groaned and stabbed more of her eggs with her fork. “Are you trying to make my day bad before it even starts?”

Ali brought her plate and coffee over and sat directly across from Ashlyn. “Sorry, it’s just too easy to bother you, I can’t help myself. So you got any fun plans for the next day off?”

“Yeah I think I’m going to study Sweden’s players PK shots.”

“I said FUN plans.”

“I want to be ready if I play,” Ashlyn shrugged.

The brunette sighed, “Well I can’t tease you with a response like that, so I guess I’ll be nice to you now.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes, “You? Nice? Please! Everyone I talked to about you says you’re the sweetest person ever, but you can’t stop saying stuff that you KNOW bothers me. I don’t know what Pinoe told you—”

Ali’s eyes sparkled as her lips curled into a smile, “Wait a second—you talked to people about me?”

Ashlyn glared, she was not in the mood for this. “Yeah. I did. Because everyone seems to love you, but whenever we are in a group you ignore me, and whenever we are alone you say the most condescending shit.”

“Calling you ‘girly’ is condescending? Explain exactly what is wrong with being ‘girly’?” Ali smiled as she watched Ashlyn curl her hands into fists in frustration and waited for the blonde to take the bait.

“Because you know that would bother me!! You can’t possibly think that calling me ‘girly’ or ‘some surfer chick’ or—why do you always call me by my last name? Almost no one calls me that! My name is Ashlyn. And how do you even know that other girls call me ‘stud’? Why would you even bring that up when you can clearly tell I’m not having a good morning. Just—what—why—why is it that every time you talk to me I end up wanting to melt into the floor?!”

Ashlyn finished her rant with a kick to one of the table legs before leaning back in her chair and immediately being embarrassed by her outburst. The room was silent. Ashlyn hated that. Why the hell won’t Ali just say something? The keeper crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the table cloth.

“Look at me,” Ali whispered. Ashlyn felt like she had already lost this battle by losing her cool and she really didn’t want to look like any more of an idiot so she reluctantly looked up to see Ali staring back at her, looking slightly concerned and amused at the same time. It infuriated Ashlyn.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel pathetic. I honest to god didn’t. And I didn’t mean to make your day worse. Its just, since that first day in the lobby when you introduced yourself to me, you immediately got the cockiest grin I’d ever seen and had no shame raking your eyes over me. I just thought it would be fun to see how you reacted when I shut you down. And then that cute, confused face you got after I called you a surfer chick—I couldn’t help myself. You’re so damn adorable when you don’t get your way.”

Ashlyn was still fuming. She wasn’t even mad that Ali had called her ‘girly’ or ‘harris’ or ‘surfer chick’. She was mad that Ali had been playing with her. She was mad that Ali called her out on being a cocky jerk. She was mad that Ali didn’t seem to think she was tough or smooth at all. She was mad that Ali had oh so easily made her feel like a shy, bumbling teenager with a crush. Most of all she was mad that all she wanted, even after Ali had made her so angry, was to crawl into the defender’s arms. Eventually she got it together enough to form a sentence. 

“What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?!” she said without moving a muscle or looking up.

“Say that since I’ve been terribly mean to you, you’ll come out with some of us tonight and let me buy you a drink,” Ali smiled.

Ashlyn started to open her mouth and say something, but the brunette cut her off.

“I swear to god I’ll be nice. No snide remarks just to see how pouty you get.”

Ashlyn leaned forward, still with her arms crossed, and raised her eyebrows. “So let me get this straight, you ignore me half the week, when ever you do talk to me, you deliberately say things that you know will bother me. THEN I call you out on it, and you don’t even deny that you said all that shit just to bother me, and then you ask me out on a date? Are you fucking insane?”

Ali shrugged nonchalantly. “I highly doubt it meets date criteria if we are being accompanied by Megan, Syd, Kelley, and Alex, but sure since you want it to be a date I’m willing to call it that.”

“What?! No. I did NOT say I wanted this to be a date.”

“Pretty sure you did.”

“Something is wrong with you. You need to talk to someone.”

“I will. After you come out with me tonight. On our date. And I buy you a drink.”

Ashlyn just stared at her with her mouth open, too confused and frustrated to say anything. Ali took that as a yes.

“Great!” she smiled. “So be ready around 9, okay? We can’t stay out too late. I’ll come to your and Kelley’s room to pick you up. Bye!” she said as she gathered her dishes and walked out.


	3. Change of Plans

After morning practice, Ashlyn was the first one off the field hitting the ice bath. When she saw Ali walk in the locker room laughing with Syd, she inwardly groaned. She still had four minutes left in the ice bath, and she prayed that neither of the women would interrupt it. For once, something went her way and she finished out the four minutes in peace. After a shower, she went on a hunt to find Pinoe. Whatever game Ali was playing, Ashlyn was so sure Pinoe would have some clue about it, and besides, she needed someone to rant to.

Pinoe was standing in the food line getting her lunch when she felt someone yank her by the back of the shirt and drag her all the way out of the conference room and into the lobby.

“Woah there, tiger. I was just about to get my lunch on!” Pinoe protested.

“What the hell is going on with Ali?”

“Uh, I don’t know. You tell me.”

“What did you tell her about me? Cause I swear to god that girl is insane!”

Pinoe smiled, thoroughly impressed that Ali had somehow managed to get Ashlyn this worked up.

“Why the hell are you smiling like that?”

Pinoe put her hands up in mock surrender. “I didn’t say anything! Well I mean I did, before you showed up. But all I said was that you were a tomboy surfer type. I may have slipped something in about you being a fuckboy. Then like last night I told her you don’t do dating or girlfriends or anything like that.”

“You WHAT?! You had NO business telling her ANYTHING, and now she thinks I’m some sort of game to play. Because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut and told her stuff you had NO business telling her!”

Pinoe laughed, she tried not to but she couldn’t help it. She had never seen Ashlyn this passionate about any woman.  
“I dunno, Ashy, you seem pretty worked up over her.”

Ashlyn leaned her head back against the wall and put her hands over her face. “No shit! This freaking smart mouth defender just waltzed in and made it her own personal mission to drive me insane.”

Pinoe shrugged. “She didn’t say anything to me about trying to drive you insane. She DID say something about thinking your arms were sexy, although now that I’m seeing your reactions to her teasing you, I can see why she tries to get you frustrated; it really is entertaining. I’ve never seen you care this much about what a cute girl thought of you.”

“No. It’s not entertaining. And I don’t care what she thinks about me. And it doesn’t matter if she looks hot when she is driving me crazy. Do you know what she did this morning?”

“Look at you the wrong way?”

“What? No. After insulting and ignoring me all week, I finally confronted her and you know what she did? She asked me out on a goddamn date!”

Pinoe’s eyes grew wide, she seriously didn’t think Ali would have the guts to follow through, and she definitely didn’t think Ali may actually succeed. “So? She asked you to go out with us tonight? What’s wrong with that? You should go with her.”

“No. Why are you even acting like this? If I didn’t know better I’d think you were encouraging her,” Ashlyn leaned against the wall again and started rubbing her temples.

“Ok, ok. Calm down, just, stop freaking out, deep breaths. Good. Now, don’t hit me for saying this, but what exactly would be so bad about going out with her?”

“You’re—you’re fucking kidding me right? I can’t STAND her. She’s like the teacher’s pet who yanks your ponytail the second the teacher turns around. And smiles the entire time. Also, she does this thing where she won’t let me, like, she just—”

“She won’t let you be in control?” Pinoe stared her dead in the eye. Ashlyn stared back, set her jaw, and inhaled sharply. Then she turned on her heel and headed for the elevators, but Megan pulled her arm and stopped her.

“Ashlyn, just listen. You said she is like the girl in school who pulls your ponytail…you’re going to tell me you never did that to a girl you liked? I know she drives you insane. I get that, I do. But when is the last time you were EVER this worked up about a girl?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ashlyn spat back.

“I mean, most girls you meet are super sweet and giggly, and they buy in to everything you say, and you’re almost never interested in them. But Ali is different, she’s clearly just trying to challenge your façade. She got the upper hand—and you can’t stand that. You hate that she isn’t like all those other girls because you don’t know how to handle her. Maybe you should try something different for once.”

Ashlyn stayed silent, then shook Pinoe’s hand off her arm and headed for her room.

****

“Ali fucking Krieger, where the hell are you?” Megan yelled when she walked in the hotel room before she saw the brunette sitting on her bed.

“Right here, geez!”

Pinoe sat down on Ali’s bed before grabbing the brunette’s shoulders.

“Ali. What did we talk about last night?”

“Ashlyn’s arms?”

“Of course that’s all you remember. No—you said you would keep me updated on the Ashlyn situation.”

“And?”

“Well why the fuck didn’t you tell me you asked Ashlyn out on a date this morning?!”

“What? Who did you hear that from? And it isn’t really a date. I mean I guess but all I asked was if she would let me buy her a drink, but then she just assumed it was a date and I know I shouldn’t have let her think that since I just want to hook up, but I just couldn’t help myself. She’s so fucking sexy when she gets mad--”

“Stop! Gross. Too much information. I mean Ashlyn is hot, but just in a ‘my friend is really hot’ way.”

“I’d have to disagree with that statement.”

“Stop talking. I don’t know what the hell you did to that poor girl, but she is a disaster. I’ve never seen her like this.”

Ali smiled. “Really?”

“No. Don’t smile like that. I’m actually worried she is losing it. You better be super sweet to her if she ends up coming out with us tonight. I’m being serious. I don’t want to lose our game next week because the #1 goal keeper had her self confidence destroyed by a defender who gets way too much pleasure watching her squirm every time she calls her ‘girly’.”

Ali raised an eyebrow. “She’s THAT upset about my teasing?”

Pinoe nodded. Ali let out a deep breath. “Ok. Fine. I already told her I’d be nice to her. I’m still planning on hooking up with her soooo if you could just somehow magically end up sleeping in Kelly’s room tonight, that would be great.”

“Woah woah woah. TONIGHT? You’re already planning on hooking up with her tonight?”

“What did you think the point of me asking her out was? To get to know how many siblings she has?”

“No but if you sleep with her tonight, and she really likes you, and it’s just sex to you, that’s totally going to fuck with her. You can’t sleep with her.”

“God damn it, Pinoe! What the hell am I supposed to do with her then? And since when does Ashlyn care about stuff like this? You told me she doesn’t date like four times.”

“Well yeah that’s because other girls aren’t you. You managed to reduce her to chaos and as much as she may be freaking out about it right now, I think she will find out she likes it pretty soon. And as far was what to do with her--ask her how many siblings she has.”

Ali glared at the other woman.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t hook up with her because she all of a sudden developed the ability to have feelings?”

“Listen I’m not saying you can’t hook up with her eventually. All I’m saying is give her a little time to figure out her feelings. And come to think of it maybe you shouldn’t be TOO nice to her tonight, we don’t want you turning into all the other girls who just let Ashlyn do whatever she wants.”

“We?! Since when are you involved in this?”

“All I’m saying is your impromptu plan to totally take away any upper hand she may have had may actually be just what she needs for a relationship. And without me, you two are going to fuck it up,” Pinoe stated matter of factly.

“Um, no. There is no relationship. God I thought I went through this with you—I just want to hook up. You were the one who told me that she doesn’t do relationships. Remember that? You can’t tell me I’m seriously supposed to date her now?”

“So you would be interested in dating her?”

“Pinoe! I’m about to just stop this whole thing. I don’t even know what you’re talking about anymore.”

“So you like her?”

“Jesus, Pinoe. I—I don’t know? I haven’t thought about it. I’m not really looking for--”

“So then, maybe just get to know her tonight. Pleaseeeee?”

“So no sex? Just me asking her how many siblings she has? Got it. Can’t wait,” Ali groans and pulls a pillow over her head.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I love feedback from you all :)


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